Shown here is a front view of the new Defense Information Systems Agency building complex at Fort Meade, Md., Jan. 2, 2013. (DoD photo by Thomas L. Burton/Released)
WASHINGTON: The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to let its milCloud 2.0 cloud contract with General Dynamics Information Technology expire next May, Breaking Defense has confirmed, setting the stage for a race to migrate data to other systems.
“The department has a critical need for on-prem cloud. DISA has determined that moving forward with the milCloud 2.0 program is not in the best interests of the government to meet that requirement,” a DISA spokesperson said in a statement.
DISA plans to let milCloud 2.0 expire on May 20, 2022. DISA awarded the project to the IT firm CSRA in 2017, before the company was bought by GDIT. The milCloud contract was potentially worth $498 million and had a three-year base and five one-year options. Federal News Network first reported MilCloud 2.0’s impending doom.
“GDIT successfully executed the milCloud 2.0 program and met all contractual requirements,” a GDIT spokesperson said. “We continuously enhanced milCloud 2.0 with new capabilities and delivered on-premise and general-purpose cloud services to meet demand and advances in technology. GDIT will continue to support customers currently leveraging milCloud 2.0 and stands ready to partner with the Department of Defense as they continue to evolve their enterprise cloud strategy.”
The DISA spokesperson said the agency is “committed to working closely” with DoD users to mitigate impact on users’ missions as they migrate from milCloud 2.0 to other offerings, “whether to commercial cloud or another environment before the milCloud 2.0 sunsets.” DISA’s options also include the forthcoming Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, the department’s future enterprise cloud replacing the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract.
But that turnaround, just a six months away, is a tight one for a department that usually takes years on IT projects.
“May 2022 is tomorrow in terms of DoD IT,” said former DISA chief technology officer David Mihelcic. “Even if JWCC [Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability] was already awarded, this would be a really short interval to budget for, conduct migration, tests, and accredit apps from milCloud 2.0 to another cloud environment. And JWCC is not awarded yet. I would not be surprised if the milCloud 2.0 customers didn’t push for a six month extension, at least.”
A DISA spokesperson said that the once the contract expires, “there can be no waivers to the published timelines” because the cloud environment will be shut down.
“The department’s hosting and compute needs to support the warfighter are complex. DISA’s Hosting and Compute Center has and will continue to offer a variety of hosting and compute options, including the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC), and DISA datacenters, so that mission owners can determine how to best meet the unique requirements of their mission,” the spokesperson said.
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“It’s great to have internet day to day in peacetime,” said Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, “but it’s more imperative to have it when bullets are flying.”
